Computing devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, laptops, terminals etc. often include cameras for capturing video data and/or images. Additionally, these devices can also comprise a screen for displaying the captured data. Thus, the camera on these computing devices can be used to capture and decode dataforms. Capturing and decoding dataforms in video data is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,955, assigned to Symbol Technologies, Inc.
Dataforms are any indicia that encode numeric and other information in visual form. For example, dataforms can be barcodes, two dimensional codes, marks on an object, labels, signatures, signs etc. Barcodes are comprised of a series of light and dark rectangular areas of different widths. The light and dark areas can be arranged to represent the numbers of a Universal Product Code (UPC). Direct Part Marked (DPM) dataforms are, for example, two dimensional data matrixes etched into the surface of a product. Additionally, dataforms are not limited to products. They can be used to identify important objects, places, etc. Dataforms can also be other objects such as a trademarked image, a person's face, etc.
Adding dataform decoding capabilities to a computing device can expand the functions of a handheld device, thus allowing the device to become an enterprise mobility terminal, a personal scanner, etc.
Accordingly, there is a desire for systems and methods for adding dataform decoding capabilities to existing and future computing devices.